Grandpa

The blog lost an avid follower this week - one of our favorite followers for sure. My grandpa passed away yesterday morning, and I'm just not quite sure how to process it. Blogging might be one way.

Grandpa will forever be one of the very best men I've ever known. He loved hard, and he loved deep, and his life radiated that love. I have always held him in such high regard, and I always wanted to make him proud. He was the epitome of a family man. He and Grandma set a beautiful example of how to do marriage and family life right.

He loved to hear about and see our little ones. I feel so grateful that they got to know him, no matter how briefly. Even Isabel got to meet him twice. I wish that they could have known him long enough to be impacted by his great example, but maybe that's where I'm supposed to come in. I hope to honor him by making sure that our home is filled with love and laughter just like his home always was.

What a wonderful man. And how lucky we are to have been loved so well.

Baby Natalie:

Baby Max:

Baby Emma:

Grandpa and Grandma were always some of our very first visitors when each of the kids were born, but Grandpa was in the hospital himself on Isabel's birthday. We visited him when she was two weeks old and three weeks old. This picture is from our last visit:

Some other favorites: